Our Own World
by YourFinalFantasy
Summary: Their own world. Is it achievable? Or will everything burst into flames?
1. Now our story begins when

Today was finally the last day of school. It was the beginning of summer break, and all that lay before the friends was a summer full of fun. A vacation that a few of them felt was long needed, and would help them forget about all of the things that had happened before. The tournaments, the grueling duels in them, psychos that were after someone's life, they just wanted to forget all of it had happened, and make things go back to the way that they once were.

"Hurry up you guys!" Tea yelled to the two boys running behind her. "It would be nice to get to the arcade before a huge amount of people get there first!"

We're right behind you Tea!" Tristin yelled back, only a few yards away from the girl running ahead of him.

"Just barely, but we're still back here." Joey said mostly to himself. "And you know it wouldn't kill you to slow down a bit!"

"I already told you that I want to get here before a big crowd! And it's not my fault that all you ever think about is food!" She yelled to her blonde haired friend before quickly sprinting around the corner near the arcade. A few moments later, they were at the arcade. "Yami and Yugi said that they would meet us here. I swear if you guys made us late again I'm going to kill you."

"Kill who?" A familiar voice came from behind them. It was Yami, and Yugi was with him. It was nearly impossible to keep them apart. Even after Yami got his own body, the two were still inseparable.

"Aww, but if you kill one of them, then we can't have as much fun." Yugi said with a small pout.

"I wasn't really going to. Just hurt them, a lot." Tea told Yugi with a smile, thinking of different ways she could hurt the two who were now inching away from her.

"Well, killing or hurting them can wait until later. We weren't too late getting here, were we?" Yami then asked, quickly changing the subject.

"No, I thought we were going to be late. All Joey ever does is eat, I'm surprised we got him to stop long enough to run here." Tristin said with a sigh, hitting Joey on the head lightly.

"I don't eat all the time." Joey retorted with a snort.

"Yes you do. You're stomach is made of iron and it's bottomless." Yugi said, laughing as he said it. Joey slouched a little at hearing this.

"Well, looks like Yugi hit that nail on the head." Yami said, making Joey slouch further.

"Like you can blame me for being hungry all the time." Joey said, trying to regain some sort of dignity.

"No, but we can blame you for only thinking about food." Tea chimed in shortly after his comment.

"I hate you all." Joey said, pouting. He then perked up and started looking around the arcade. "I don't know about all of you, but I'm hungry."

"Why don't you guys go find a game to play, and I'll go with Joey to get some food." Tristin said before grabbing a hold a Joey's arm and quickly walking away.

"I wonder what all of that was about?" Yami asked, looking to Yugi.

"Looks like they have been around each other too long." Tea said, starting to get far more interesting thoughts than the other two could ever think of in their life.

"Well, let's just hope that they aren't going to cause any mischief this time." Yami said, looking rather sad.

"Hey, no need to feel sad. Remember, we're here to have fun." Yugi said before grabbing the sprits hand and dragging him of towards the DDR machine.

"Yugi, please not this one again. You know that I'm no good at it." Yami said, trying to get out of playing it.

"I know." Yugi said with a grin. "But it's fun, and I want to play it. And that means that you are too. And there is no way of getting out of it now." Yugi said, having already put money in the machine and was searching for a song.

------------------

"Hey, Tristin?" Joey asked, trying to get his friends attention. "Tristin? Hello? Earth to Tristin." He then said, still unable to get a response from his friend who was stuck staring at something. "Houston, we have a problem. You're astronaut is completely out of it. The mission was a failure."

"Did you see what I saw?" Tristin then told his friend, still not looking from whatever it was he was looking at.

"See what? I'm hungry." Joey said, still searching for some sign of food.

"Would you quit thinking about food for just a moment and look!" Tristin then said, grabbing the blonde and making him look across that arcade.

"Now I see what you were talking about." Joey sad with a sadistic grin on his face.

"To wreak havoc, or not to wreak havoc?" Tristin then said with a laugh.

"Wreak havoc, most definitely." Joey then said before the two headed nearer to what had just made their day far more interesting.


	2. Touble tolls

Brother: She doesn't own YGO. Nor does she own any of their characters or anything. Although she does own a couple of action figures suddenly gets hit with potted plant

That's enough out of you. -.-;

--------------------

"Should we be worried about those two being by themselves with just each other?" Tea asked as she watched Tristin and Joey walk off.

"All we can do is hope that they stay out of trouble for a change. And only go to get food." Yami said with a sigh.

"Yami, you better hope that your boyfriend doesn't do something like what he did last time we were here." Tea reminded him.

"He promised me that he wouldn't do anything like that again. I want to be able to believe him for a change. So he said that no matter what, he would not start any trouble with anyone at any time." Yami told her.

"Yeah, but don't you think that, that is a bit much for Joey to take in all at once? I mean, come on. Joey not start a fight with the first person who insults him. That's like saying Kaiba isn't nice to Mokuba." she said with a sigh.

"In that case. I might want to go find him." Yami said as he made his way towards where they had last seen Joey and Tristin.

"I should follow him. I don't want to see them get into another fight." Yugi said as he ran off after Yami, leaving Tea there with her mouth hanging wide open about to say something.

"So, where should we start?" Joey asked as him and Tristin started walked towards the games.

"The DDR machine. There's a long line at that one." Tristin told him as they stopped next to it. Joey was good at breaking things beyond repair, so it was his job to make the machine stop working while Tristin kept him from being seen. And it worked like a charm. In a few minutes, the DDR machine suddenly cut off in mid dance for a kid, causing him to fall over into the person next to him.

"Now, let's go fix some more so they have to come over here." Tristin whispered to Joey as they headed towards a few other random games which included the Mortal Kombat game, Jurassic Park III, Fishing games, Hunting games, a couple racing games, and the automated basketball hoop. By the time they were done, there were ten games out of commission after the DDR game went down.

------------------

No. I didn't forget about this one. I jsut couldn't remember what I was doing with it. And then I lost the original document with ideas for it. (( They were on my laptop which needs a new battery. ; )) So...yeah.

M: Spear her.

No!! It took forever for me to get that last one out of my arm.

M: ...when did you get speared?

I was fighting with brother again...

M: You two are never going to get along, are you?

Nope!!


	3. Bad times, bad times

M: She still doesn't own anything. And I still that the gods that be that she doesn't.

-------------------

"Damn it all to hell, why can't people learn to use the damned trashcans? They're everywhere." Marik muttered to himself as he continued to pick up trash off of the floor. Picking up trash was a never ending cycle it seemed. He would pick up one piece, and two would be in its place. The job itself wasn't that bad. It could be a lot of work at times, and it didn't pay well, but it paid enough. And tonight, he was one of the only two on shift for the night besides the manager, who kept himself locked in his office. Susan, the other employee on duty hardly lifted a finger. She was either too worried about getting something on her clothes, or breaking a nail. Although he had to admit, it was rather funny when she got something on her. She called a wadded up napkin a spider the other day when someone threw it and it landed on her head. As soon as he finished cleaning up where he was, he heard a group of kids complaining about some of the games going down. He made his way over to the place where the kid said that one of the games was down, and found a cluster of kids complaining about it. "Why must they all complain in flocks and cause more to join the flurry?"

"It's about time someone showed up to fix the problem." he heard one kid say as he made his way through the crowd.

"Just move out of my way so I can get to work." Marik said as he shoved his way through the crowd. He went up to the first game that he saw and started to fix it. Or at least try. There wasn't much he could do with kids yelling at him and breaking his concentration.

"What is going on here?!" the familiar voice of his manager could be heard making its way through the crowd. Marik couldn't help but sigh in relief. This meant that the crowd would soon disappear, and he could actually fix something. "Now, if you all would calm down and kindly make your way to the help desk, we will be happy to take note of any and all complaints that you may or may not have. Go now all of you." he shouted so the whole crowd could hear him before turning to Marik. "How could you let things get so out of hand?"

"I'm sorry sir. I was trying to fix the game. But all I could concentrate on was what everyone was yelling at me. And the crowd just kept growing like moths to a flame." he explained the best he could.

"I know Marik, the crowd is never very big when you start." he said with a sigh. "You're a hard worker, and the best one that I have. I would hate to lose you. But, I can't keep letting you get away with letting things get out of control. This is your last chance. One more mistake, and I am going to have to fire you. I don't want to, but I can't afford to lose business you see."

"I understand sir." Marik said before his manager walked off.

"Did you hear what I heard?" Tristin asked Joey.

"That the café has run out of cheeseburgers?" Joey said with a pout.

"Not that! Pay attention to what is in front of you instead of food for a moment!" Tristin said before hitting Joey. "If he makes one more mistake, he's out of here."

"Shall we?" Joey asked, bowing before Tristin showing that he is to lead the way.

"Well, look who decided to stick around." Tristin said as they walked up to where Marik was.

"What do you two want? I'm kind of busy here in case you didn't notice." Marik said, trying his best to ignore the two staring at him with eyes that burned holes straight through him.

"And just why would you think that we would be here to cause trouble?" Tristin asked as he leaned against the pinball machine.

"It's simple, with you two around, trouble seems to follow me around." he told them as he stood up and grabbed the broom, leaning on it slightly.

"And how is that worse than anything that you have ever done?" Joey asked, kicking the broom out from under him causing him to fall to the floor.

"I already told you a million times that I didn't do any of that." Marik said as he picked himself up.

"Then who did it? Your evil twin?" Tristin laughed.

"I told you it was my yami. My darker half. I couldn't control him." Marik said as he dusted himself off. He knew that it didn't do a lick of good to try to explain anything to these two. There heads were full of air, and everything anyone said went in one ear, and out the other.

"Why must you always make up excuses? Can't you just admit what you have done? Be a man." Tristin stated.

"Well, I guess we can just say that it's the crazy in him talking." Joey said with a laugh.

"I'm not crazy!" Marik snapped.

"Let us guess. You're not crazy, but your yami is, right?" Tristin asked.

"He was crazy! And out of control!" Marik yelled at them.

"So, he is pretty much like you are now. Because he was you. Or should we say, is you?" Joey told him. That had done it. They had finally pushed enough of Marik's buttons that he tackled Joey right then and there. Tristin grabbed Marik and threw him off of Joey right as the manager walked up.

"What is going on here?" he asked, looking at the three.

"What kind of a place do you run here?!" Tristin asked.

"What do you mean?" the manager asked, giving them a questioning stare.

"What kind of a place would allow their employees to attack their customers?" Tristin then stated as he helped Joey off the floor.

"Your worker there just attacked me for no reason!" Joey shouted as he wiped a small trickle of blood from his mouth.

"You two have this visit free of charge. I am sorry for all that has happened and can reassure you that it will never happen again." he told them before sending them on their way. He then turned to Marik and gave him a look that just shouted 'come with me.' It was at this point that Marik knew there would be no getting out of it. Hey had come and done what they had been trying to do the entire time, get him fired. Tomorrow would be the day that he would have to start looking for a new job. Or else he fall behind on his rent that he had just enough to pay every month.

-------------------------

M: Due to the fact that she is afraid of spears, Yami isn't with us right now.

K: So, she left you to take all of the damage huh?

M: Doesn't she always?

K: True. Okay, thanks to everyone for reading the third chapter. I'm sure Yami would say that she really appreciates it, were she here right now.

M: Chapter four is on it's way. And remember, when you see her, spear her.

K: Hey, that's my job. XP


	4. The break up

K: Nope. Still doesn't own it. And she makes nothing off of these weird stories except fans. Woohoo.

------------------------

"Well, we did our good deed for the day." Joey said with a laugh as he and Tristin watched Marik follow the manager into his office.

"And what would that good deed be, exactly?" a familiar voice asked from right behind them. Joey turned around to see none other than Yami standing there, with Yugi right next to him.

"Oh, hey Yami. Didn't see you there." Joey said with a nervous laugh.

"What was the 'good deed' Joey?" Yami asked again.

"Helping a kid find what they were looking for of course." Joey said, hoping that Yami hadn't seen what had just happened. Their relationship was on a very thin string as is, and the slightest temper change in Yami could cause that string to break.

"So, this is your favorite game to play. Am I right?" Yami asked.

"Yeah." Joey said before catching what he had just said.

"What did you think you were doing? You promised me that you would not start problems with anyone anymore. You swore to me that you would change. That I didn't have to worry about bailing you out of trouble every two seconds. And why do you insist on trying to ruin his life? It's not like he ruined yours. In a way, it's my fault because I ruined his by the whole memory tattoo thing on his back. Even after all that happened, you said that you forgave him. And here you are, getting him fired from his job." Yami paused at that moment, before shaking his looking from Joey, shaking his head a few times, and walking off.

"I…I…" Joey stuttered as he watched Yami walk away, followed closely by Yugi.

"Yami?" Yugi asked before pulling on Yami's sleeve, urging him to stop and look at him. "Yami, please talk to me."

"I can't take it anymore." he told him as he hung his head.

"Can't take what?" Yugi asked before Tea walked up.

"Joey can be such a jerk!" Tea snapped, having to get her two cents in before someone else got to say it first.

"He's a really nice guy. He just doesn't know how to be nice to those who were mean to him." Yugi said, trying his best to defend him.

"Yugi, you don't need to defend him." Yami said.

"If Joey would have just learned from his experience with Kaiba that day a little while ago, he wouldn't have much of a problem with anyone. But noooooo… he has to go off and get the shit knocked out of him again by a different person." Tea went on.

"That's Joey for you I guess." Yugi said with a sigh.

"Yami, can we talk?" Joey asked as he walked up to him.

--------------------------------

K: Eat donuts. Lots and lots of donuts.

M: What does that have to do with the story?

K: No one said I had to say anything about the story.

M: And remember kids, spear Yami when you see her.


	5. The break up II

K: She still wishes that she owned something. But she doesn't.

-------------

"Yami, can we talk?" Joey asked as he walked up to him. He had that same sad, 'feel sorry for me' tone that he did every time they fought. And every time he used it, Yami would forgive him. Or at least say that he did. But no one was sure if it would work this time. Yami didn't even lift his head to look at him, but simply nodded his head and headed for the door, with Joey close behind. Tristin, Yugi, and Tea all stood were they were and watched the two from inside.

"Yami, I'm sorry about breaking my promise to you." Joey said after a few moments of silence.

"And how can I believe that you are actually sorry? Everything you say to me is a lie. Every time we go somewhere, you have to get into some sort of fight. And I have to bail you out of it. Is that all I am to you, a get out of jail free card?" Yami asked. "You always say the same thing afterwards too. So how can I be sure that you actually mean it? How do I know that you're not just using me?"

"Yami…" Joey started.

"I'm tired of it Joey." Yami said, interrupting him before he could say anything. "I'm through with putting up with all of this. I'm tired of having to fix all of your problems. And I'm through with you."  
And that was the final word spoken before Yami walked off, leaving Joey dumbstruck about what had just happened. A few minutes later, the three inside came out to where he stood.

"Joey, are you okay?" Tristin asked.

"What just happened?" Tea added on right after him.

"It's over." Joey said.

"What's over?" Tristin and Tea asked in unison.

"Yami broke up with him. He needs some time alone now." Yugi said as he started on his way home, leaving the three standing there in front of the arcade.

---------------------

K: She really should be known for her short chapters.

M: She's annoying is what she is.

L: That's not nice to say about sister.

K: Shut up L.


	6. An apology was given

S: Nope. She's still dreaming that she owned it.

------------------

"Stupid Joey. Stupid Tristin. Stupid arcade." Marik cursed as he walked down the street. "Now what am I going to do? I'm supposed to be paying rent next week. I'm nearly out of food at home. I have to go to the laundry mat yet. Agh! I'm falling behind already on everything."

He continued to curse about random things as he walked along. He was more worried about what he was going to do about a new job and everything else then to where he was going. When he went to turn the corner, he ended up running into something.

"I'm so sorry about that. I wasn't paying much attention to where I was going." Marik said as he looked to whom it was he had run into. His look fell from sorrow to worry when he saw that it was Yami that he had run into.

"No, it's my fault. I should watch were I am walking instead of admiring the concrete." Yami said as he stood up and looked to him. "I was hoping to find you, but I never thought that I would find you so soon."

"I…I should be going." Marik said, turning quickly on his heal and starting to walk away. He suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder and stopped dead in his tracks.

"You don't have to believe me when I say this, but…" Yami paused for a moment as he removed his hand from Marik's shoulder. "But I wanted to apologize for what happened. I know that I shouldn't be the one apologizing for that jerk, but believe me when I say that I really wanted to. I never wanted anything to happen, but, there's just no controlling him when it comes to some things."

Marik stood there for a few moments before quickly running off. Yami watched as he ran off into the distance before heading towards home. When he got there, he found that Yugi had fallen asleep on the couch waiting for him to return. He smiled at the thought of it before picking Yugi up and carrying him to bed. After Yugi was in bed Yami headed to his own room and lie down on his bed. There was no way that he was getting to sleep anytime soon, not with all of the thoughts of the day running through his head. But one thing he didn't understand was why Marik simply ran off like that. He half expected him to start yelling at him the moment he saw him. Enough run-in's with Joey could do that to a person.

--------------------

Marik ran all of the way home before stopping or air. When he made it to his door, he was panting heavily and sweating up a storm. He took a few breaths before unlocking his door and heading in. He then made his way back to his room to change for bed. He lie on his bed and tried to get to sleep, but all he could do was toss and turn with no sign of even being the least bit tired.

"Agh! What is wrong with me?!" he shouted at himself as he sat up and looked at the clock. He then let himself fall back down onto the bed. 'Why is it that the only thing I can think of about is that?' he thought to himself as he stared at the ceiling. That's when an even more interesting thought came into mind. "Why did he really want to apologize for what happened?"

-------------------

K: No questions. She's making me and the rest of her muses do this. And we know nothing of what is going through her head.


	7. Chaotic thoughts

S: If she owned YGO, you would all be afraid to watch it. Trust me. Be thankful.

-------------------------

The next morning, Yami awoke with a note stuck to his head. He took it off and read it.

Tried to wake you, but it felt like

I was trying to wake a dead person.  
What time did you get in?  
I'm going to be out with Tea today.  
I will talk to you when I get back.

-Yugi

He crumpled up the note and threw it at the door before getting out of bed and changing. He didn't even bother to change his clothes when he got in. He changed into a tight, white shirt and a pair of blue jeans before grabbing a light jacket and heading downstairs. He wrote Yugi a note saying he would be back later and then headed out the door. He had to do something to clear his mind of everything that had happened yesterday. He was walking in town when he came across a small café. It seemed like a good place to go to avoid everyone, seeing as how he had never heard of the place before from either an ad somewhere or his friends. He headed inside and took a seat in one of the booths near the back.

-----------------------

So sorry for the ... literal paragraph on here. But I don't have much time to do anything anymore. I just made this whole part up sitting here waiting for my fox to get back. I will try to make a longer one the next time that I have enough time to think about what is goign on and what happens next. Please don't spear me. sad puppy dog face


	8. The things we do

Y: I want donuts...

L: Yami still owns nothing.

Y: GIVE ME DONUTS!!!!!

---------------------------

Marik woke up a tad later than he had hoped that morning. He got up and quickly changed his clothes before running out the door. He decided to skip breakfast and go straight to job hunting. A couple hours later, he was still jobless, and his stomach was very angry, and growling up a storm. Every place that he had been so far either wanted a person with a college degree, or someone with more experience. As he walked further down the street, he noticed a small café called "Cloud Nine" that had a help wanted sign in the window. He quickly ran in and talked to the manager, who was kind enough to give him the job and let him start working today.

"Sorry that I don't have any male uniforms, but it's been a while since I had a guy working here." his new manager with a strange name told him as she handed him on of the outfit's the girls wore. "But, I think that it will work. Your hair is long, and it falls in your face a bit. And I have a few girls here that have no boobs, so you should fit right in."

"That's not very nice to say about your employees." he said.

"Hey, they're the ones that joke about it all the time. Not me." she said with a laugh. "Oh, and in case Lerinou is too hard for you to pronounce, you can just call me Lori. And don't feel bad about not being able to pronounce my name, I haven't met a person so far who could. And I'm not manager lady, or ma'am. I'm Lori. That's my only rule. Got it?"

"Yes, Lori." Marik said as he headed to the bathroom to change. When he got back out, Lori was ready to get him started.

"Okay, I'm going to start you off with the easiest of jobs. You get to take orders from people. And you can start in the booth right over there. He just got in here and none of the girls have noticed yet. Okay. Now, all you have to say when you walk up is this. "Welcome to Cloud Nine. Is there anything that I can get for you?" Alright?" Lori asked as she handed him a notebook and a few pencils and sending him on his way. It didn't seem that bad so far. The girls that worked there were told not to say a thing about him being a guy. And thankfully today they were allowed to wear pants under the skirts, other wise there could be a problem.

"Welcome to Cloud Nine. Is there anything that I can get you?" he asked as he looked to who it was that was sitting in the booth and nearly choked on the last few words. 'Holy Ra. Why is Yami here?'

"I'll just have a cup of tea I guess." Yami said, not seeming to notice who was talking to him.

"I'll be right back." Marik said quickly walking away from the table.

"Do you not get along with him or something? You seemed in a bit of a hurry to get away." Lori asked as he walked up to the counter.

"No, it's not that. It's just that I never thought I would see him in here is all." Marik half lied before taking the cup from her. "Wait, how did you know what he wanted?"

"It's the special here. That and I don't serve much coffee to people his age." Lori said with a smile before waving him off. "Back to work now."

"Here's your drink sir." Marik said as he sat the cup down next to him. At first he was glad that Yami had not noticed him, but now he felt sort of sorry for him. Yami didn't seem to be himself right now. But what didn't make any sense, was why something like this would bother him. "Is there anything else I can get you?" Marik said clear enough that there was no way that Yami could not notice him now.

"No thanks, Marik." Yami said after looking to him and quickly diverting his gaze away.

"Mind if I take a seat?" Marik asked, only to receive an answer of Yami scooting over without a word. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Nothing's wrong." Yami said out of nowhere.

"I don't think that's what I was asking." Marik said with a small laugh.

"What?" Yami said, looking to him rather confused.

"I asked if you were feeling okay. Not if something was wrong." Marik said with a smile, trying to at least cheer him up a small bit.

"I…I'm fine." Yami said, turning his face from him again.

"Well, I have to get back to work before Lori kills me. If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask, alright?" Marik asked as he got up.

"Alright." Yami simply answered. Marik went back to waiting on tables for a little while after that. When there was a person who couldn't decide what they wanted, Marik found that he often glanced over to Yami. It was about an hour later that none other than Joey walked through the door. This day was going to be an interesting one. Marik watched as Joey sat in a booth not far from where Yami sat, and kept his gaze pretty much glued on the pharaoh.

"Hey, could I get you to get the guy that just came in? I'm kind of packed full." one of the girls asked with her arms full of stuff for people.

"Sure. No problem." Marik said with a forced smile as he walked over to where Joey sat. "Welcome to Cloud Nine. Is there anything that I can do for you?"

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Joey snapped when he looked up at him. "And what the hell are you wearing a dress for you fairy freak?"

"I work here. Now please order something." Marik said, trying his best to keep his temper at a minimum. "I do have others to serve you know."

"Then go help them. I'm not ready yet." Joey snarled.

"Fine. I'll be back in a few minutes to see if you have chosen anything." he told him before walking away and heading back over to where Yami was. "Need anything Yami?"

"Not right now. Thanks." Yami told him, noticing Joey out the corner of his eye. 'Why can't he just leave me the hell alone?' he thought to himself.

"Okay. I'll be back later then." he told him before going to take some more orders from people and heading back to Joey. "Ready to order yet?"

--------------------------------

Okay, you all got lucky today. Seriously lucky. This chapter came out of nowhere. But not so much as the last one...

Going now!!


	9. Getting along

S: Nope. Still doesn't own a thing.

-----------------------

"Okay. I'll be back later then." he told him before going to take some more orders from people and heading back to Joey. "Ready to order yet?"

"Yeah. Stay away from him. There's your order." Joey told him.

"Stay away from who?" Marik asked as he looked around and stopped at Yami.

"Haven't you caused him enough trouble for one lifetime?" Joey then continued.

"Look, okay. I've already explained to you everything that I have to explain. There's nothing more to it. And if you don't mind, I have a job to do. So either order something, or leave." Marik told him flatly. Joey ad suddenly got up and was about to do something when Marik noticed that he was being pulled away from where he stood.

"Why are you protecting him?!" Joey snapped.

"Because no one else will. And he deserves better than this." Yami said.

"That thing doesn't deserve anything!" Joey shouted. By now, the whole café was silent, and everyone was watching.

"He's not a thing! He's a person. And he wasn't the one that did all of that. Yami Marik was that one that did all of that. Do you hear me. It was his fucking yami that did it!" Yami said before suddenly pausing. 'His yami caused all of those problems for him before. And now I'm doing the same thing.' Yami thought to himself, standing frozen to the spot.

"Yami?" Marik asked as he shook his shoulder lightly. Before either him nor Joey could say anything else, Yami shoved Joey aside and ran out the door. And right after Yami left, a girl named Tabby came up front with Lori close behind.

"What in the name of Vectra is going on here?" Lori asked as she looked at Marik and Joey.

"This boy here came in and started trouble with your new worker Lori." one of the nearby customers said quickly, trying to prevent anything further from happening.

"Is this true?" she asked as she looked at them.

"Yes Lori." Marik said.

"He's lying." Joey told her.

"What happened here then? Pray tell." she asked.

"He's what happened here." was all that Joey could muster.

"This boy here came in and started trouble with Marik the moment that he walked up and asked if he wanted anything. Marik left to take care of some other customers, and came back only to be harassed again. He jumped from his seat suddenly and another one came up out of nowhere and prevented anything from happening." the assistant manager called Foxy said as she sat on the table next to Lori. "Saw the whole thing myself. The other boy ran out of here before Tabby made it back out here with you."

"Marik, you have done nothing wrong. I just want you to get back to work and enjoy the rest of your day." Lori said before turning to Joey. "You on the other hand, will leave immediately, and never set foot in here. Or else you face a night in jail."

"You have got to be kidding me!" Joey yelled at her.

"I'm not. I may not look like much, but I own more of this town than Kaiba does. And I am also well respected around here. So I would take what you have and leave, before things go bad." Lori said with a glare that could send chills down your spine faster than Kaiba. And with that note, Joey took off out the door and down the street. "Back to work everyone. Show's over."

"Okay." Marik said more to himself than anyone as he stood there staring at the door. He wasn't sure why, but he had wanted to run after the spirit. But he couldn't, he was sure that he would get fired if he left before he was supposed to. And it was even still his first day working there. He went back to work, not sure why he was so worried about him.

---------------

S: Note to readers-- Lori is known for stretching the truth. Don't believe a word she says when her sentences are more than nine words long.

K: What are you doing?

S: Having fun. Now leave me alone.

Y: He is narrating. Because he can. And I am running from anyone that would like to kill me for delaying this so much. As well as the other story.

K: ...why does it sound like an angry mob outside?

S: The same reason that sister suddenly disappeared out the back door screaming.


	10. Uplifting Company

I don't own any of these characters that are familiar. I just borrow them. X3

Sorry about the first version of this chapter being so short. It was all that I could think of at the time. Monster writer's block, I'm telling you. So, to make up for it, here is a bit of a longer chapter with some fun stuff added. I hope you enjoy! ;)

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Yami had run for what seemed like forever to him before he finally started to slow down. Two to three hours had to have passed since he left the diner. He looked around and noticed that nothing was familiar to him. There wasn't even a payphone in sight to call Yugi. He continued to walk until he came across an abandoned park. He stood there and stared at it for a few minutes before entering and heading over to the swing set. He leaned his head against the chain holding the swing and started a gentle left to right swing. The sun was starting to set when he heard faint footsteps nearing the park. He lowered his head and hoped that whoever it was, wouldn't come over to him. As usual, nothing went the way he had hoped, and whoever it was came and sat down on the swing next to him.

"Are you okay?" Marik's familiar voice rang to him.

"I'm fine." Yami answered simply.

"You know, you shouldn't lie to people." Marik told him with a small laugh, causing Yami to look up at him.

"It helps if you talk about what is bothering you."

"What is there to talk about? Nothing is wrong. I'm perfectly fine." Yami told him.

"Why did you run out of the café like that earlier?" he asked the spirit.

"If I left, then he would have too." Yami told him. It wasn't entirely a lie, but mostly.

"You didn't have to leave. You didn't do anything wrong." Marik told him.

"I always do things wrong." he told him with a small sigh.

"Like what?" Marik asked.

"I've done nothing but cause problems for everyone around me since I was first released from the puzzle. That pretty much sums it up for you." he told him.

"No you haven't. None of that was your fault." Marik told him before lowering his head a bit. "If anything, I caused more trouble in a short period of time than you ever could in your whole lifetime."

"I wish that I was never trapped in that stupid puzzle." Yami said, hanging his head again. They sat there in silence for a few minutes before Marik stood up.

"It's getting late. We should be getting home." Marik said before stretching his arm out to Yami. "Come on. It's too late for you to be heading back to you house. You can stay with me tonight."

"I couldn't." Yami told him, refusing to move.

"There's no point in arguing Yami. And I'm not giving you much of a choice." Marik said before grabbing Yami's arm and pulling him up off of the swing. "And besides, I owe you for helping me today. It's the least I can do."

"Well, if there is no point in arguing, than I guess it wouldn't hurt." Yami said before Marik lead him out of the park and down a darkening street. This part of town was a lot different than the one he was used to. He guessed that it was just because he never came here before, and never truly wanted to. It looked like it was an all in all boring place, and it never once crossed his mind after that. He looked up a little to see the sun setting over the horizon.

'It must be easy for you. To simply rise and fall each day, without a care in the world.' Yami thought to himself, wondering if the sun god was even watching what went on, or had simply given up on the people and only did their job anymore.

"Wow. It's never got this dark so quick before." Marik said to break the eerie silence, only to quickly feel a jolt in his hand from startling Yami a bit. "Sorry about that. I did't think that I would scare you."

"It's not your fault, but mine once more. I should not have my attention in so many places at once." Yami apologized.

'This is going to be a long night.' Marik thought to himself as they continued walking along. "My house is just around the corner here."

"Alright." Yami replied simply as Marik lead him into a large apartment complex. It had an old, antique look to it from the outside, but on the inside it had been completely redone and made one think they were in a completely different building. Marik walked up to the elevator and pushed the button. He watched for the light to turn on the signal which floor it was on, but it did nothing.

"Ah, Marik. Evening." a females voice came from behind him. Yami nearly jumped out of his shoes, not knowing the she was standing right next to him.

"Are you okay?" Marik asked, helping Yami up from the floor.

"Heh. Sorry about that." the girl said with a small laugh.

"She does that a lot. After a while you sort of get used to her. Guess I should have warned you about what people here call the 'unwelcoming party'." Marik said with a smile before turning to the girl. "Elevator out again?"

"This thing? Yeah. I broke it again. She's going to kill me one of these days. In fact, I got told this morning after I did it that I'm not allowed near it again." she said with yet another laugh.

"Got orders not to touch it again?"

"Yeah. Again." she said with a sigh. "You can call me Kitty by the way."

"This is Yami, and old friend of mine." Marik said after a moment of Yami simply standing there staring into oblivion again.

'Friend? How can he call me a friend after all I have done?' Yami thought to himself, simpy causing him to become more remorseful than before.

"Nice to meet you Yami." Kitty said before someone in a long, hooded, black trenchcoat walked though the door. Kitty leaned towards Yami and whispered "I'd be careful of her. She's kind of mean by nature."

"If you would quit breaking the stuff that makes it easier for the tenants to get around the building, I wouldn't yell at you too much." a woman with long, platinum blonde hair that fell loosely in her face said as she pulled her coat off. She wore a business type suit that shown off bits and pieces of her figure, making her look attractive, but sensible and business-like at the same time. What would catch anyones attention the most would be her eyes. She had one eye a deep, blood red; while the other was a deep lavender color, darker than Marik's violet colored eyes. Yami could swear that he had seen her before somewhere, but wasn't sure where. Perhaps he was just reminded of someone else?

'I think it's time to ask myself what I am doing here still.' Yami thought to himself about his current form of company.

"I hope that Kitty is not causing you and your friend any trouble Marik. I would hate to see one of the few with a head on their shoulders leave here." the lady said as she walked up to the elevator.

"I find her company rather enjoyable after a day at work, actually." he laughed. "I think that I will take my leave though. It has been a long day, and I really need to relax."

"Bye Marik!" Kitty waved as the two walked away.

"Have a nice evening Marik. Be sure to get some sleep Yami." the older woman said as they started their way up the stairs.

"You know, it's kind of creepy how she knows what everyone's name is before she meets them." Marik said as they started walking up the fifth flight of stairs.

"Who?" Yami asked, not knowing who he was talking about.

"Oh, that's right. She didn't introduce herself while we were down there. That's Shouri, the complex owner and manager. She is a remarkable person. This entire building used to be her family home, but she comverted it into apartments for people who can't afford a lot. I've been told by this nice old woman down the hall from me that she also helps people get started in life if they have nothing left. She's really generous." Marik said as they came to the door leading to the floor he lived on. "Well, here is at least the entrance to where I live. Still a little ways to walk. Sorry it's taking so long to get there."

"It's fine." he said to him as he followed him down the hallway. They walked down three hallways, and then finally came to the fourth door on the right the had 534B wrote on it in large, bold, golden writing.

"Can't say that you get lost in here. All of the rooms are labeled by floor, hallway, how many down and what side." Marik said as he opened the door to his apartment. "Go on in."

"Thanks." Yami said as he walked in, followed closely by Marik. He took off his shoes and put their coats away in the closet. He then proceeded with showing Yami around the house so he knew what was where. "This is the living room here. And through here is the kitchen. You can eat whatever you want when you get hungry by the way, okay?"

"That's fine." his overly silent companion told him as he walked through the kitchen and into the hallway where the bedroom and bathroom was.

"There's only one room, but you can sleep in here tonight. I'll be fine on the couch." Marik said as he turned on the light in the bedroom. "The only bathroom is right through that door."

"The couch is fine. It's better than having to sleep in the same bed with Yugi. Love him to death, but sometimes I think that he is going to be the death of me. If he isn't kicking me, he's shoving me off the bed. I don't see how, since it's a queen size, but he does." Yami told him.

"Are you sure?" Marik asked, only to recieve a nod in answer. "Umm...okay. I'll get you some blankets later then. Let's go back to the kitchen and I will maek us something to eat. I'm famished."

He led the pharoah back into the kitchen and pulled a couple cans of soup out of the cabinet. He figured that right now Yami wouldn't care too much about what he ate. Come to think of it, he wondered what kinds of nasty food he would have had to eat with Joey around. A faint blush grew on his face when he realized what he was just thinking. He quickly emptied the cans into to the pot and started warming it up on the stove. After a few minutes, he removed it from the stove and poured it into two seperate bowls. He rinsed out the pot before grabbing the bowls and going to the table. He sat a bowl in front of Yami and then took a seat himself. Marik began gorging himself due to not having time to eat at all that day, while Yami simply took a few bites and sat there stirring it, staring into a faint reflection of himself. When Marik was done, he looked over at Yami.

"Did you not like that kind of soup?" he asked.

"It's fine. I'm just not really hungry." he told him, keeping his eyes on the bowl.

"That's fine. Let me take care of that for you." Marik said before Yami handed him bowl. "Let me just wash what little bit of dishes there are, and then I'll grab some blankets for you."

"I'm sorry." Yami said as soon as Marik started drying off his hands.

"What?"

"I'm sorry."

"What do you have to be sorry for?"

"Everything."

"Like what?" Marik questioned, only to have the spirit sit quietly for a moment. "If you mean all of what I go through with Joey, don't worry about it. He's done it for so long that I'm starting not to care anymore."

"For that, and everything else that has happened. And for whatever will happen in the future." Yami told him.

"What are you talking about?" he asked. The pharaoh seemed to be talking in riddles. It seemed like he was tired, but didn't want to go to sleep. That, and he had so much on his mind that he wouldn't be able to sleep.

"The more I think about it, the more I realize that I am the cause of all of the trouble that everyone has went through. The more I think about it, the more I wish that I was never released from the puzzle. Or even that I was never kept inside of it to begin with." he wasn't sure why he was saying all of this to Marik. He couldn't even say anything like this to his hikari, Yugi. And considering that he confided in the boy for a lot of things, that was saying more than anything about him. "If I didn't start all of this foolish monster duel business then, nothing like this would have happened now."

"Don't talk like that. And besides, if anything, I should take more of the blame than you. I did try to kill you after all." just saying it felt like someone had stuck a knife in him and twisted it around. The thought of killing someone, even the pharoah made him feel sick to his stomach. But then again, killing Joey would be a nice thing, but he still would never do it.

"How can you talk about it like it's nothing?" Yami asked, turning to face the blonde haired, violet eyed egyptian.

"I guess that you could say that I have come to peace with all of the decisions that I have made." he shrugged. "You on the other hand, are over-exhausted. I can tell by the look in your eyes. Let's get you set up to get to bed. I'll even get you something to change into so you can get your clothes washed."

"I'm not really tired." Yami protested, but was met with a tug of the arm by Marik who led him out of the kitchen and into the bedroom.

"You take a seat on the bed, and I will get everything ready for you." he told him as Yami reluctantly sat on the bed. He went into the bathroom and grabbed a few extra blankets from the closet, and then grabbed a shirt and pair of pajama pants out of his dresser. "Here are some clothes you can wear to bed. Just go ahead and put your stuff into the washer, I'll take care of it later. Now you get changed while I get to couch ready for you."

"Alright." he told him, not wanting to end up losing another argument with him. "Is it okay if I use your phone when I'm done. I want to call Yugi and let him know that I'm okay."

"That's fine. There's one right there by my bed you can use. And another out in the living room too." he told him before he walked out of the room. He turned on the small lamp next to the couch and proceeded to pull the coffee table away from the couch. It's times like this that he was thankful he bought that couch with the pull out bed. It only took him a few minutes to make the bed so he figured that he would give Yami enough time to get done what he needs done and sat down on the bed and turned on the the tv.

Yami wasn't sure what to think at the current point in time. One minute, he is knocking out Joey in the diner, and the next, he is at Marik's apartment. And wearing his clothes. He grabbed his clothes and put them in the washer like Marik has said. After starting the washer, he made his way to the phone next to the bed and dialed Yugi's number. It rang a few times before Yugi picked up.

"Hello?"

"He there?"

"Yeah. Not in the room though."

"Don't tell him it's me. Okay? I don't want to talk to him. At all."

"I don't really blame you. And don't worry, I won't. Where are you?"

"Staying with a friend for the night. I ran into them a few hours ago and they wouldn't let me go home because it was so late. They insisted that I stay with them for the night."

"Please tell me you're not lying to make me feel better?"

"I'm sure that by now you recognize the payphone numbers. How many times had someone tried the same thing to you?"

"I know. But I'm not going to take the time to remember every single number in the phone book."

"I'll stop by home tomorrow, okay?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"I need to grab some clothes to wear. I'm not going to sit here and wear someone else's clothes all day."

"Tea wants to go to the arcade in the morning. We will probably be there until early afternoon. That should give you enough time to get by with. Right?"

"Thank you, Yugi. I really appreciate all that you have done."

"Your welcome. And Yami?"

"Yeah?"

"Please get some sleep. Okay? I can feel that you really need it."

"I promise. I will probably call you tomorrow evening or something."

"Alright. Talk to you later."

"Bye." and with that he hung up the phone. After sitting there for a minute, he finally got up and made his way to the living room. He saw that Marik had already prepared the bed for him, and was sitting there watching t.v. He made his way over to the couch and sat down under the covers.

"Clothes fit you okay?" Marik asked.

"Yeah. Thanks. For everything." he told him.

"Don't worry about it. It's best to get it all out before it all explodes anyways." he told him. They both sat then sat there in silence watching the television. An hour and a half had passed since Yami walked into the room. Marik looked over to see that the spirit had finally went to sleep. He sat there gazing at the sleeping spirit. How he would have killed for a moment like this to happen before. Slowly and carefully he got up and made his way to his room. He wasted no time in changing his clothes and getting in bed. He felt so tired that he thought he would fall asleep before his head even hit the pillow. Much to his surprise, he simply lay there wide awake and staring at the ceiling. He turned over and stared out the window. For the first time in a long time, he could see the stars shining brightly above the city. How long had it been since he had gazed upon their beauty? Far too long, that was for sure. He loved the stars, they always seemed to brighten his mood. That, and they always made it easy for him to fall asleep, which is what he realized when he heard a noise in the bedroom. He slowly opened his tired eyes and loooked around, but saw nothing. Maybe he was imagining things. Yami was sure to still be asleep, he did seem to be exhausted from the long day that he had. Marik simply shrugged it off and moved so he was lying on his back. Now that he thought about it, wasn't he lying on his left side before? He lifted his head up and looked around the living room.

'I could have sworn that I went to bed.' he thought to himself before looking towards the t.v. It was still on, but the channel was in standby for the night and had the usual starry sky picture on it. That would at least explain him thinking that he was in bed. He didn't remember falling asleep watching t.v., but he was waiting for the pharaoh to go to sleep. That was right. Yami was at his house for the night. He couldn't believe that he had forgot that he was there for the night.

"...sorr.....please.....me" he heard Yami mumbling in his sleep. He even apologized for stuff in his sleep. Now that was weird. He slowly turned to his side and sat up on his elbow and looked at the pharaoh.

"....mean to....accident.....belie..me...." he mumbled again, starting to flail a little.

'I want to do something, but I don't want to end up scaring him away. But I can't just sit here and do nothing.' Marik fought with himself about if he should do anything to calm to sleeping spirit.

"...please don't.....eave." he said before grabbing ahold of Marik's shirt. An alarm suddenly went off in Marik's head when he felt Yami suddenly pull him down to the bed and wrap his arms around him.

"Umm....Yami?" Marik asked, trying his best not to start panicking.

"...don't go....." he mumbled as he tightened his grip on him. Marik wasn't quite sure what he was dreaming, but it couldn't have been too good if he was mumbling something about not wanting someone to leave and holding onto him as tight as he was.

"I'm not going anywhere." Marik said without realizing, but it seemed to calm the pharaoh down, but not loosen his grip any. feeling that there was really no way out of the situation now, Marik gave in and lay there, letting the pharaoh hold onto him tightly. It was the least he could do to help ease his pain. 'I don't know what you're dreaming, but I'm here for you right now.'


End file.
